Not-So-Friendly Advice
by hoffkk
Summary: Maya and Lucas get voted "Best Couple" in the school yearbook, causing a rift between Maya and Riley. While Riley takes some time to think, Maya decides to get some friendly advice from Josh, which ultimately turns out to be not-so-friendly... in a good way ;)


"Come on, Riley! Talk to me!" Maya urged as she followed Riley through the front door of her family's apartment, repeating the same words she had said at school, on the subway, and outside Riley's apartment building. "Say something...anything."

Yearbooks came out today, and the girls had been really excited about it. That is, until they caught a glimpse of the superlatives page. The eighth grade class had voted Maya and Lucas as "Best Couple" and neither one of the girls took it well. Maya was surprised for half a second, then became livid, while Riley was shocked into silence. She hadn't said a word to Maya since, which is why they were having the current one-sided conversation.

"Riley, please!" Maya begged.

"I just... I need some time." Riley said finally, turning to face her friend before spinning on her heel and heading to her bedroom.

Maya ran a hand through her long hair in frustration, then froze as she noticed Josh and Auggie sitting on the couch, playing some kind of card game.

"Auggie," Josh said after a quiet moment. "why don't you go and see if your sister is all right?"

"Fine." Auggie huffed, walking away. "Women! So needy!"

Josh smirked and shook his head as he watched his five year old nephew leave the room. Once Auggie was gone, he stood up from the couch and turned towards Maya who just stood there nervously.

"Wanna talk about it?" He offered.

"Yes, _with Riley_..." She let out a breath. "but I suppose her Uncle Boing will have to do." Maya shrugged, before walking over and taking a seat on the couch next to Josh.

"So what happened?" Josh queried.

"Do you remember Lucas, our friend that came over for game night a few weeks ago?"

"You mean Mr. Howdy?" Josh asked, recalling the night in question.

"That would be the one." Maya nodded before continuing. "The thing is, Riley likes him _a lot_ , but he and I kind of got voted "Best Couple" at school, and now she won't speak to me."

"Wait, you two are a couple?" Josh questioned, feeling a pang of jealousy, which caught him by surprise.

"Me and Howdy? Hecks no!" Maya assured.

"Well...do you like him?" Josh probed further so he could give Maya proper advice, or at least that is what he told himself.

"Of course not," Maya told him, allowing Josh to let out a breath he didn't even realize he was holding. "but even if I did, it wouldn't matter because I could never act on it. I could never do that to Riley. She's too important to me."

" I know." Josh half-smiled at Maya's words. She really was a great friend. That was just one of the many things he admired about her. "...and so does Riley. She just needs some time to process everything, that's all."

"But there's _nothing_ to process!" Maya said exasperatedly. "Lucas and I are _just_ friends."

"Yes, but we can't all be as bold and fearless as you." He commented, knocking his knee into hers. Josh couldn't tell, but the motion had sent the butterflies in Maya's stomach into hyper-drive.

"What's that supposed to mean?" She quirked a brow.

"That, unlike you, some people get scared." Josh explained, and when Maya just looked even more confused, he went on. "What I mean is, that for some people, _like Riley_ , just the _idea_ of something happening can be scary, especially when they have never considered the idea before." He finished, his blue eyes boring into hers.

"Okaaay...I can understand that." She nodded in confirmation, though she could sense something more in his words, a certain heaviness that implied he was talking about so much more than his niece. This heaviness made her heart begin to race. "But... I think that _some_ _people_ only scare so easily because they think too much. So, maybe _some_ _people_ need to just stop _thinking_ and start _doing_..." She trailed off, not taking her eyes off of the beanie-wearing boy sitting beside her.

Josh stared at Maya intently as he listened to her speak. As the last few words left her mouth, Josh's gaze flicked from her sapphire blue eyes to her soft pink lips. He suddenly felt caught in a trance and began to lean forward, wanting nothing more than to know exactly what she tasted like.

Maya realized what was happening, and her heartbeat doubled its already rapid pace, as she leaned to meet him halfway. This was it. This was their moment. She was finally going to kiss Josh.

Their lips were only a couple of inches apart, when a boyish voice filled their ears.

"Maya! Riley wants to see you now!" Auggie called, running back into the living room.

Their heads snapped back, and they quickly pulled away from each other. Feigning normalcy, Josh rubbed the back of his neck with a hand, and Maya pushed some of her blonde curls behind her ear. To a five year old, everything seemed fine, but anyone else would see their movements for the nervous gestures that they were and know something was up.

"Okay. I'm coming." Maya responded, then stood up from the couch and headed in the direction of Riley's room. She was almost out of the room when she stopped and turned back to look at a blushing Josh and smiled.

"Josh?" She called over her shoulder.

"Yeah?" He queried, trying to calm himself down a bit. Josh wasn't sure what had come over him a few seconds ago, but he knew that he was feeling really annoyed right now. Whether his annoyance was because he had almost let something happen between Maya and him or because Auggie had interrupted that something, well, Josh wasn't quite sure.

"Thanks." Maya replied with a single nod of the head, then left him staring after her as she continued her way down the short hallway.

Maya entered Riley's room and found her friend sitting in her usual spot in front of the bay window.

"Hey." Maya said softly.

"Hey." Riley echoed.

After exchanging pleasantries, Maya took a seat next to Riley and let out a breath.

"So, you still mad at me?" She asked, ready to put this fight behind them and get back to being best friends.

"I was never mad at you, Maya." Riley promised. "I was just...surprised."

"About what?" Maya wondered aloud.

"You know that I like Lucas a lot, like _a lot_ a lot." Riley stated.

"Yeah..." Maya waited for her to continue.

"But I never _once_ considered the possibility that you might like him too, not until today, not until I saw that picture in the yearbook." Riley explained, referring to the photo placed under the "Best Couple" title, the one of Maya and Lucas standing close and looking at each other all smiley. They looked like they really liked each other, but what you couldn't tell was that it was actually taken during one of the times Maya was making fun of Lucas. She had just called him one of his many nicknames and got all in his face to do the "HAR!" sound effect, causing them both to chuckle, which is when somebody had snapped the photo.

"But I _don't_ like him, Riley. We're just friends, and that's mostly by association." Maya assured her, adding the last bit as a joke, well...mostly.

"But you _could_ ," Riley stated matter-of-factly. "and he _could_ like you too, and I... I just wasn't sure how to handle that before."

"And now?" Maya pressed, genuinely curious.

"And now... I realize that you're my best friend, and that at the end of the day, your happiness matters more to me than anything else."

"Back-atcha, peaches." Maya smiled, putting a hand on Riley's shoulder.

"So..." Riley continued. "If you _did_ like Lucas, and he happened to like you back, I just want you to know that you would have my blessing."

"Really?" Maya asked, a little astounded by her friend's confession.

"Really." Riley nodded. "I would never want to stop you from finding your true love...whether it's Lucas or not." She smiled, putting her arm through Maya's.

At that moment, a light bulb went off in Maya's head, and a cheeky smile spread across her face.

"So..." Maya started innocently. "what you are saying is that if I found someone that I really liked who liked me back then you would be happy for me?"

"Yep." Riley nodded confidently.

"And you wouldn't stop me from being with him?"

"Nope." Riley gave another peppy nod, not realizing where this conversation was going.

"Good." Maya stated.

"Good." Riley repeated.

"Because I like Josh, and I'm pretty sure he likes me." Maya confessed, a slight blush covering her cheeks.

"What?!" Riley gasped.

"And I want to be his girlfriend." Maya added.

"What?!" Riley said again, just as flabbergasted as the first time.

"Thanks for being okay with it!" She hugged her tightly. "Hey! I wonder if he's still here?" Maya asked no one in particular before running towards the door.

"Maya!" Riley yelled, but she was already gone. "Maya?"

Riley just stared at the open door for a moment completely bewildered. She did _not_ see that one coming. She had meant what she said before about Maya's happiness, but could Josh _really_ be the one for her? Riley didn't know, but she had a feeling that Maya was going to do her best to find out.

"Oh, boy." Riley said with a sigh. "What did I just get myself into?"


End file.
